No, OP’s claim is bogus. Sure, I do use a small portion of my income for vices, for escapism, just like most people. But I don’t use it instead of food. I don’t use it to the extent that it keeps me from paying for the rest of life. I don’t use it to the extent that I can’t function in society.

There’s a huge difference between wasting some money on a vice/escapism, and that vice/escapism becoming your life. I don’t know if it’s just addiction or desperation, or how close we could all be to that pit of despair, but there is clearly a huge difference between using a bad habit to cope with life and your bad habit becoming your life